


A Candle on a Cake

by Badgermole



Series: Colors [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Autism, Balloons, Birthday, Birthday Party, Breakfast, Coloring, Colors, Cooking, Drawing, Gen, ice cream cake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22078249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badgermole/pseuds/Badgermole
Summary: Retro: Patton finds out that it's Virgil's birthday. Although they haven't been together long, Patton wants to make it the best birthday party ever.(Just read it, Nike Swoosh!)
Relationships: Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Colors [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1184909
Comments: 26
Kudos: 207





	A Candle on a Cake

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This takes place between "A Date at Home" and "A Gift at Christmas" 
> 
> This took a little bit longer to write than I thought, but here ya go!  
> (And a belated happy birthday for lizzysperil who asked for a Virgil birthday fic)

“Hey Lo?” Patton poked his head around the back of his boyfriend’s chair.

“Hm?” Logan raised his head slightly but kept scribbling notes on the work he was grading. Quickly finishing up the current section, he gave Patton his undivided attention.

Patton moved around to the front of the chair with his hands on his hips. Logan raised a questioning eyebrow toward his partner.

“How come you didn’t tell me Virgil’s birthday was tomorrow?” There was a hint of anger to Patton’s voice that Logan wasn’t expecting.

“It’s been on the calendar since the start of the month?” Logan offered. Just by the look on his face, Logan knew that that wasn’t really the answer Patton was looking for. He sighed and adjusted his glasses. “We… we don’t really celebrate. Virgil likes his routines and… it’s really been just us two…”

Patton kept forgetting how much of a secluded life the pair lived. He loved and needed to be with people, but the Sanders didn’t need that. Sure they went to the park but being around people didn’t mean being with people. As far as Patton knew, the only other people consistently in Logan’s and Virgil’s lives were Thomas and Roman. Logan’s family was a big question mark and Virgil didn’t exactly get a chance to make friends at school being home schooled.

There was a bit of shame and guilt on Logan’s face. Birthdays were important to mostly everyone. He personally didn’t celebrate, although this year he and Patton ended up going out on a nice dinner date. Patton didn’t know of course and Logan didn’t see any reason to tell him as he paid for the check for his own birthday meal.

“Okay.” Patton grabbed the red pen from Logan’s hand and a couple of scrap papers his boyfriend had been taking notes on.

“Please don’t wr--” Patton shushed his boyfriend and weaseled his way into the chair. The chair was most definitely meant for only one person but neither seemed to mind being nearly in each other’s laps.

Patton drew a line down the center of the blank back of one of the pages. His tongue stuck out slightly as he quickly and perfectly folded the paper in half. “Just like a hot dog,” Patton whispered under his breath as he opened the page.

“So,” Patton half turned half curled into Logan’s side, “What is your normal routine?”

As Logan rattled off the short list, Patton glanced at the dark blue watch on Logan’s wrist that had snaked around his waist. It was probably too late to get supplies tonight, but he absolutely was going to get up early to make it the best birthday Virgil had ever had.

Patton tied down the last balloon and took a step back to admire his work. Logan said that he would normally get a few normal purple balloons for the house; Patton did his best not to go over ten. 

There were two helium filled 6’s, one in red and one in blue because the store didn’t have any purple ones. The red balloon was attached to the end of the stair’s banister while the blue was tied to the back of Virgil’s chair. The rest of the balloons were standard purple ones. One was attached to Logan’s armchair, one to the closet handle, another to the bathroom handle, and two to both Logan’s and Patton’s dining chairs. Additionally, a few free floating ones were meandering around the bottom of the house. 

Patton complimented himself and started toward the kitchen. Logan said he would make the normal pancakes but add in some of that fun-fetti. Essentially, just add more colors into the normal dish. Patton did that… but with a bit more. 

The pancake batter was more bits of fun-fetti than proper pancake. Whether or not they tasted good, they were definitely going to look good. He started to sizzle the bacon. Unfortunately, Patton couldn’t think of anything fun to do with the bacon but bacon was perfect all by itself anyway. Looking down at his list, Patton was excited for the day ahead. He had gotten the balloons, he was making a delicious colorful breakfast, he had wrapped up Virgil’s gift, and Roman and Thomas would be over in the afternoon for the party. 

After the bacon was done, Patton cut up the few extra pieces and started on the omelets. Well they were supposed to be omelets. The excited man filled the pan with a couple of eggs, bacon bits, diced tomatoes, scallions, and some spinach. When he went to flip the colorful omelet, the entire thing fell apart. Not one to worry, he just turned the omelet into some loaded scrambled eggs.

A happy humming started to fill the still sleeping Sanders house. Logan and he had only been together for a bit over a month, but Patton really felt like part of the family. There was still so much to know about Logan and Virgil but Patton figured that’s why relationships lasted a lifetime. He had had a couple of missteps here and there; Patton had floated a question about Logan’s family or couldn’t understand Virgil. Regardless, he loved his time with both of them. He loved Logan’s awkward attempts at flirting. He loved how excited Virgil got when they colored together. He loved the quiet dates with Logan after a long day with screaming children. He loved when Virgil would scoot every so slightly closer to him when they sat on the couch together. 

That’s why Patton needed to make sure Virgil’s birthday was the best. His boys deserved to know that they were loved. Patton chuckled to himself, he did have a tendency to get attached too quickly. He had a big heart. There was nothing wrong with that.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Logan wandered into the kitchen. While he was dressed with his standard tie and his hair slicked back, the father still looked half asleep. 

“Patton, what is going on?” He asked blinking a few times.

“It’s Virgil’s birthday!” Patton gave a quick peck on Logan’s cheek before turning back to the next batch of loaded scrambled eggs. 

“Yes…” Logan gently rubbed the spot Patton had kissed him. “But what are you doing?”

“I’m making breakfast, as per your notes.” Patton motioned to the collection of food around him. “It’s… it’s a bit more than you said, but not too much more.”

“Mm.” Logan rubbed his face still trying to wake up. “Not too much.” 

Patton moved the last batch of scrambled eggs to a plate. Finished with the meal, Patton turned on the coffee maker and started hand washing the pan. He started humming again slowly swaying with the indistinct tune. Logan shuffled over so that Patton gently bumped his shoulder each time he swayed.

“You did not have to do any of this.” Logan had moved into the living room with his warm cup of coffee.

“I know.” Patton gave a shrug. Have to and want to were two different things… and he wanted to.

“What else is on your itinerary today?” Logan had already arranged to have Roman and Thomas over weeks ago. He had gone out yesterday to get the ice cream cake. And that was it. Patton had gotten the balloons and made a truly colorful and delicious looking breakfast. 

“Well, we have breakfast all ready for when Virgil wakes up and then Roman and Thomas are coming over. The boys will get to play. Then there’s cake and presents.” Patton was doing his absolute best not to do too much. Just a little bit more.

Logan took a few sips of his coffee as Patton rested his head on his shoulder. Virgil would be getting up soon and they would start the unusual day that was Virgil’s birthday. 

Virgil quietly thumped down the stairs. Patton smiled to himself as Virgil looked like the splitting image of his father only a few minutes ago; still half asleep but all ready for the day. The kindergarten teacher couldn’t stop the ‘aww’ that escaped past his lips. The young purple boy didn’t seem to notice as he made a beeline to his chair for breakfast.

“He’s rather ‘no funny business’ in the morning.” Logan explained. He helped Patton to his feet and the pair moved to the kitchen. Looking at all the food now, Patton worried that he had in fact gone overboard and made way too much but Logan grabbed the nearest dishes without a word.

“Can I tell him happy birthday?” Patton whispered as the pair headed back to the table.

“Of course.” Logan scrunched his eyebrows but didn’t comment. Patton asked a lot of questions and sometimes they were confusing but they all came from a place of caring. He had only interacted with Virgil a few times and while that was happening more frequently, he was still learning.

“Happy birthday Purple!” Patton plopped the plate of fun-fetti pancakes down on the table and an empty plate in front of the boy.

Virgil raised his head slightly and flicked his eyes to the left side of Patton’s shirt. Patton counted that as a win and Virgil started moving pancakes onto his plate. Another win, and Patton’s heart was fluttering in his chest.

He happily hit Logan’s arm. Virgil liked it. He hadn’t done too much. It really was going to be a great birthday.

Virgil spent most of his time waiting for the Princes by picking apart the colorful pancakes and staring at all the balloons. Logan reiterated that it was a good thing. Virgil had actually eaten a lot during breakfast and he was acknowledging the balloons in the house. 

When the Princes came in, Patton could tell for sure that Virgil was happy and excited for the day. Virgil was quick to greet his friend.

“Red.” He whispered out his first word of the day. His arm disappeared up his sleeve and he repeatedly swung the empty tube into his friend. Roman handed off the purple wrapped gift to the nearest adult. Then Virgil and Roman were off into the house, a concofiny of thumps rang out as they headed up to Virgil’s room. 

The momentum carried Virgil into his bed. Roman followed suit, giggling as he flopped over. The pair stayed like that for a while bent over the side of the soft purple bed. Roman’s occasional bursts of laughter sprinkled over the silence of the room. There was a calm excitement in the room, like a quiet buzz. 

“Happy birthday.” Roman whispered as he turned his head toward his friend. Virgil had been staring at Roman’s ear but shut his eyes as Roman turned.

“Red.” Virgil whispered back with a slight twitch on his lips.

Then Roman was bouncing back onto his feet. “What do you want to do?”

Virgil shrugged his shoulders still on the bed.

“Do you want to color first or play Knight and Prince?” Roman hopped from foot to foot. “Or we could watch a Disney movie, maybe get some snacks?”

Virgil happily listened to Roman ramble on and on. Red was a good friend. Virgil honestly wanted to do whatever Roman wanted to. He also knew from past experience that Roman would eventually ramble himself out and settle on something to do. Still, it was nice that he asked. Most people didn’t ask what Virgil wanted to do.

Virgil hummed happily as the pair laid on their stomachs coloring opposite pages of one of Virgil’s many coloring books. The coloring book was for some cartoon kid show about trucks and dogs. Roman carefully colored in the lines of his firetruck and Dalmatian, while Virgil aimlessly scribbled across his picture of a snowmobile and Husky. Virgil was more of a free-form abstract artist anyway, preferring blank pages over color-in ones. 

“I like all the colors.” Roman complimented as he watched Virgil color. Virgil had gone with a multi-crayon technique at one point which gave a couple of rainbow-esque streaks. The Husky had a nice overlap of purple and a shiny metallic grey. 

It took a few seconds, but Virgil stopped coloring and glanced at his friend’s picture. Roman had colored in the firetruck and dog like their real life counterparts but flying above both of them was Roman. His normal prince costume was upgraded with a long flowing cape. Virgil tapped the Roman character with the butt of his current crayon. 

“It’s me!” Roman smiled as the waving superhero. He was getting better at drawing faces. This time he didn’t look at all like an angry monster.

Virgil grabbed a few crayons and pulled the book closer to himself. He started scribbling close to the bottom corner where it was pretty empty. Roman kept trying to peak over Virgil’s shoulders, but Virgil was quick to swat away Red with his sleeve.

Roman started to playfully whine as Virgil took his time adding whatever it was to the bottom of the picture. The first couple times had the younger freezing and scrunching his eyebrows worried about annoying his friend but as Roman happily continued, he relaxed and focused completely on his art. Just as Roman started to roll back and forth on the floor, Virgil held up the completed picture.

Roman smiled. 

“It’s perfect!” Roman took the outstretched book and carefully ripped out the page, now adorned with both a superhero Roman and a superhero Virgil.

Roman hopped and spun around as though having the superheroes flying through the air. Virgil was quick to follow, spinning around while his arms alternated between straight out like a plane and curled up close like a T-Rex.

Logan felt his ears tense up as the balloons rubbed against each other. Patton was teaching Thomas how to make balloon animals. Logan had declined the offer in favor of watching. The squeaking of balloons rubbing against each other was honestly one of the worst sounds, probably second only to nails of a chalkboard. He shivered as Thomas finally bent the balloon around the right way to finish up his dog.The finished dog took the count up to five balloon dogs.

“You want to learn a flower next?” Patton showed off the flower he had been working on.

“Yes please,” Thomas smiled and grabbed some more of the rubber balloons to stretch out.

Logan watched from the sideline as flowers then morphed into crowns. Balloon art was an interesting topic. It was quite incredible the large structures and sculptures that could be made from just rubber and air. Even with the squeaking, the tie clad man found himself folding and pumping up the balloons for his boyfriend and friend.

He was rolling his eyes as Patton handed him a balloon bouquet. Logan repaid him by not so subtly sneaking one of the crowns onto Patton’s head.

The boys came back downstairs to find the adults having a balloon fight. Dogs and flowers were being chucked every which way while Patton was armed with a sword. Thomas held a failed attempt at a sword which resulted in just a dented tube. 

Roman stood shocked as his eyes followed the playful adults. His mouth hung open, unable to string together anything other than offended noises. Virgil on the other hand was giggling uncontrollably. 

“How dare you declare battle without your prince!” Roman pouted and placed his hands on his hips.

The trio of adults froze while Virgil continued to laugh from his spot at the base of the stairs. Logan’s face started to turn a light shade of pink but the others simply laughed it off.

“Looks like you have an uprising on your hands,” Thomas wagged his attempt at a sword at his son.

Virgil crossed the tense enemy lines and showed off his and Roman’s fire truck picture as a peace offering. 

“Ah! Beautiful artwork is my one weakness.” Thomas grabbed at his chest and slowly fell onto his knees. 

“Happy Birthday to you.” Roman decided to hold that last note for far too long which had Thomas covering his son’s mouth with his hand.

Virgil leaned forward and blew out the big six candle atop his ice cream cake. Everyone clapped causing Virgil to duck to his head a little, his own crown nearly hitting the cake. As Logan went to pull the cake away to cut, Virgil dragged his finger across the icing smearing his name. 

“How could I have forgotten the most important part?” Logan chuckled lightly as Virgil licked his finger clean. 

Roman ate his slice a bit too quickly as he now held his head in his hands, “BRAIN FREEEEEZZZZZEEEEE.”

Virgil kept scrunching his face, seeming to have gotten himself brain freeze too. That didn’t stop him though as he noticed Patton wasn’t eating the chocolate layer. Virgil slid out of his chair and stood for a few seconds beside Patton before crawling his way up onto the other’s lap. Patton was surprised to say the least. After making sure he was comfortable and that he wouldn’t fall off, Virgil pointed toward the slowly melting cake slice. 

“Oh, of course you can have it.” Patton grabbed a new spoon for Virgil. The birthday boy was absolutely ecstatic to be getting even more birthday cake.

Logan carefully picked up his passed out son from the couch and tip toed up the stairs. Patton finished the last of the clean up before collapsing happily on the couch. It had been a great day. Patton couldn’t tell if he was hyped up from the fun interactions today or from the sugar of the ice cream cake. He didn’t really care though. 

When Logan returned, the pair cuddled on the couch. Logan was exhausted and curled himself around Patton for a change. 

“Thank you for today,” Logan whispered into Patton’s chest. “I know for sure it was Virgil’s favorite birthday.”

“Of course.” Patton beamed. 

He did really love these boys.


End file.
